While we don’t get the fall colors you get up north here along the Space Coast of East Central Florida, it’s still a great place to visit and or live here. This is the time of year when outdoor activities really begin to pick up here. The fall run of mullet is here in the Indian River Lagoon as well as along our beaches, bring outstanding fishing as redfish, trout, snook, tarpon an many other species of gamefish target the mullet. Fall also means the annual bird migrations are starting, and places like Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge, Canaveral National Seashore, Sebastian Inlet, and many of our other conservation lands become birding hotspots.

The Dicerandra Sanctuary is a property purchased and maintained by the Brevard County Environmentally Endangered lands Program and lies within the city of Titusville. It is so named due to a plant that exists there and in the surrounding area, but is not known to exist anywhere else. Dicerandra Thinicola is one of five Dicerandra species known to exist in Florida and each has a very localized population on various sand ridges, or ancient beach dunes throughout the state. The Dicerandra Sanctuary is 44 acres in size and has about a 1 mile hiking trail that loops around the property and habitats range from a depression wetlands on the east side to Atlantic Coastal Ridge Scrub Habitat to the west.The property is also home to many other species including Florida Scrub Jays, Gopher Tortoise, various Raptors, songbirds, turkey, squirrel, rabbit, and more. In my opinion it is the Scrub Jays that are the star of this hike and this is a must hike for birders wanting to add Florida Scrub Jay to their life list. (more…)